


The Cursed Witch

by countconiine



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Curses, F/F, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Mild Smut, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:21:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25293862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/countconiine/pseuds/countconiine
Summary: In a last-ditch attempt for a cure, Fareeha left her village and braved the Cursed Woods in search of a witch that could heal her sickness. Who she finds is nothing like the stories told her.
Relationships: Fareeha "Pharah" Amari/Angela "Mercy" Ziegler
Comments: 10
Kudos: 70





	The Cursed Witch

Fareeha stumbled through the forest. She swatted the flies away from her but they continued to swarm. Her skin was covered in a thin layer of sweat and her hair stuck to her forehead uncomfortably. She couldn't stop now though.

The trees were shrouded in a thick mist, making the air humid and difficult to breathe. She struggled to see too, the sun obscured by the thick foliage. She dreaded to think of what lurked deeper in the woods, what beasts she could encounter, and have no strength to fight off. They called them the Cursed Woods for a reason. Her people had warned her not to go, but her only other option was to die at home. Whether it was the forest or the village, she didn't care.

Clutching her side, she came into the clearing, resting against a tree as she studied her surroundings.

Silence. Besides the buzzing of the flies and the distant knocks of a woodpecker, there was nothing.

The grass was greener here, and wildflowers sprouted freely. Light rays rained down on them, a stark contrast to the rest of the woods and she nearly let out a sigh of relief. She looked at the small hut for a moment, perched in the middle of the clearing, and in the shadow of a great maple. The wood was old and bent, and the roof was slanted. Were it not for the tree protecting it from the wind, it would have come undone long ago.

She mustered her strength and made it across the grass, dragging her feet across a patch of forget-me-nots as she came up to the door. She panted, forcing herself to lift her fist and knock twice on the wood.

There was no answer.

She held her breath. She wasn't sure if she could wait much longer and so needed the witch to be in. Lifting her fist, she went to knock again, before the old hinges groaned and the door creaked open.

Fareeha cleared her throat and struggled to look up at the figure in the doorway, her back hunched over herself. "P-Please. H-Help me."

The witch regarded her for a moment. Fareeha could just about make out her blond hair and pale skin, but her vision was getting increasingly blurry. The woman opened the door wider and helped her inside, laying her down on a bed of hay.

"T-thank you," Fareeha barely muttered, before passing out.

* * *

Her head throbbed and she struggled against her drowsiness. With difficulty, she opened her eyes and squinting at her surroundings. She could barely remember making it here.

She tried to sit up until a hand on her chest stopped her.

"Rest," the voice said.

Fareeha took a moment to understand where it was coming from as she laid back down. Next to her bed was a woman, appearing to be crushing something in the pestle in her hand.

"W-Where..."

"You have sepsis and your heart is failing," the woman said.

Fareeha blinked a few times, taking it in. "I- what?"

The witch emptied the contents of the pestle into a clay bowl of water. Fareeha just about caught sight of what it was - a terrifying mixture of crushed leaves and soggy fungus.

"Drink," the woman held the bowl up to her lips, but one whiff of it was enough for her guts to churn. Still, the witch insisted and she couldn't help but down the mixture. It tasted bitter and floury.

"W-what is that?"

"Penicillin, for your infection, and digitalis for your heart." She went ahead and prepared something else, grinding a bundle of poppy seeds. The crunch of the shells against the mortar was soothing. "Are you in pain?" she asked.

Fareeha's stomach was cramping, and her legs were burning. "Yeah."

The witch added a bit of water to the seeds, making a lumpy, grey mixture. "Some opium, for the pain." She held the pestle for her to drink again.

As much as she tried to stay awake, she couldn't. Slowly, the pain started to reside, and the opium put her to sleep gently.

* * *

This time when she awoke, she remembered where she was. She glanced up but the witch wasn't there anymore. Her forehead dripped with sweat, but she didn't feel so cold anymore. Perhaps her fever was dying down.

"These boils must have been terrible for you." She heard her voice and she looked down across her chest. The woman was kneeling at her hip, bandaging the open wound on the side of her waist. "I drained them. This is some plantain to keep them clean." She held up the salve she had dabbed onto the bandages. While she slept, she had stripped her of her clothes to inspect the damage on her body, and left her in just her underwear. Fareeha was more desperate for treatment than she was embarrassed.

"Thank you," she muttered.

"Not quite the end of it," the witch stood up and grabbed a cup from the table, pouring in the hot tea that had been brewing over the fireplace. She handed it to Fareeha as she sat up. "You'll need some diuretics to get rid of that edema in your leg. With your heart medication, it shouldn't come back."

She smelt the infusion. It wasn't unpleasant, but she couldn't tell what it was.

"Dandelions and horsetail," the woman said, as though she had read her mind.

Fareeha nodded and started taking small sips. It was slightly bitter, but she noticed the witch had tried to sweeten it with a little sugar. She didn't mind the taste.

"It's a good thing you made it when you did," the woman said.

"You're... you're not as scary as they say." Fareeha looked up at the witch. She hadn't meant to sound rude, but she truly was taken aback by her. The stories had talked about an old, wicked hag living deep in the heart of the Cursed Woods, not of a beautiful apothecary. Looking around her hut, there was nothing remotely terrifying. Just shelves and shelves of ingredients - herbs, fungi, and jars, all arranged neatly.

The witch smiled. "People are afraid of what they don't understand."

"To be honest, I thought the woods would kill me."

"It's strange how they decide who makes it and who doesn't. Perhaps they took pity on you, or perhaps they helped you." When she had examined her visitor, she was surprised at how sick she was. She was sure she would have died had she been a moment late, or if her body wasn't as strong as it was. Without a doubt, her visitor was no feeble aristocrat. "Where have you come from?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"The village down South. We're all sick from one thing or another. It's the curse."

The witch frowned. "Curse?"

"Years ago. A terrible thing. There's not a single healthy man or woman, and we struggle to make do. I'm the first to try and seek you since all were afraid of the woods. Rightfully so, we lost many hunters and scavengers here."

"The woods are not kind to trespassers indeed."

Fareeha downed the last of her tea.

The woman fetched her clothes and she got dressed. She felt better.

"You must take this with you." The witch handed her a pouch of leaves. "They're digitalis leaves. Infuse one and a half a day in your tea, it's for your weak heart. And if the infection comes back," she also grabbed a tiny linen bag stuffed with mold, "take this with water. Don't boil it. It will kill the fungus."

Fareeha nodded, taking the items and placing them securely in her satchel. She stood and walked to the door.

"Wait," the witch said. She had nearly stopped herself from it, but she couldn't ignore what her visitor had told her. "About your village - bring your people to me. One by one. I will cure them too."

Fareeha's eyes widened. "You would do that?"

"Make sure you're the one that brings them. If the woods spared you now, they will spare you again. I can't leave the forest myself - as much as the woods look after me, I must also look after the woods, but I will still tend to your people if you escort them."

"I... T-thank you!" She smiled from ear to ear. "Thank you!"

The witch wouldn't have usually done this, but if Fareeha had made it this far, the woods were saying that there was something special about her.

"W-wait!" Fareeha called out before she could close the door. "I never got your name!"

The woman smiled. "For you, I am Angela. For your people, I am Mercy."

* * *

For weeks afterwards, every day, Fareeha would bring another villager to Angela. She would treat them as kindly and tenderly as she had treated her. Her village was coming back to life, and it seemed like they finally had the means to fight against the curse. In time, perhaps it would wane, and leave them once and for all.

Until then, she revelled in seeing Angela time and time again. Every time, she grew closer to the woman, and she noticed the woods weren't just letting her through, but they were welcoming her. Sometimes she would notice a flower sprouting where there hadn't been one, or a bird would flutter through the trees, a reminder that life there lived with her, not against her. If she was lucky, she would catch sight of a butterfly, its blue wings glowing in the dark of the woods.

But every time, Angela was still there to open the door, and she grew to admire her as she worked. Though the woman was always busy, she too had grown closer to Fareeha.

Eventually, her village was safe. There was no one else to lead or carry through the woods, but what became tradition was hard to give up. She set off down the same path again, alone, traipsing through the dense foliage. When she knocked on the door this time, there was no emergency, and she just stood and smiled at Angela, a little bundle of forget-me-nots in her hand.

"I brought you these," she said.

Angela smiled and let her in, placing the flowers in a little clay vase. She was glad Fareeha came back.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Very well. The digitalis is working great."

"And everyone else?"

"All good. We got the old sawmill working again. We finally have people fit enough to work it. Things will be vibrant again, as they used to be."

"That's good to hear."

"You know, maybe... maybe you'll join us one day. I'll show you around. We have festivals too, if you'd like to come with me."

The witch smiled sadly. "These woods are cursed, and I am with them. We are bound to each other. I cannot leave."

Fareeha nodded. She understood. "Then I'll come and back and see you as often as I can. I'll bring back food from the festivals too. What's your favorite pie flavor?"

Angela chuckled. "Apple."

"Apple it shall be."

The witch touched Fareeha's cheek gently, standing closer. Though she was happy healing her village, she had longed for a moment alone with her. She looked up at her, lost in her dark eyes and hoping she was thinking the same thing she was.

She didn't need to wonder long, as Fareeha closed the gap between them, kissing Angela softly.

She relaxed in her arms. After all this time alone in the woods, she felt like she finally had someone. The forest knew what it was doing when it spared Fareeha. Cursed as they were, Angela looked after the woods as much as they looked after her.

She led Fareeha towards the bed, not once breaking their kiss until they lied down. Their lips met again, Fareeha on top of Angela, their kiss deepening as the witch tugged at her visitor's shirt, untucking it from under her belt so she could run her hands up her chest. She felt her defined muscles and moaned into the kiss.

Fareeha pulled away from her lips and trailed her way down her neck. She traced her collarbone, pausing for a moment as she reached the collar of her shirt. She looked up at Angela before she slid her top off, and carried on with her descent. She cupped her breasts tenderly, kissing and sucking gently on her nipple, eliciting a small gasp from her.

She then carried on down her abdomen, trailing soft kisses that tingled through her skin, reaching the hem of her trousers. Running her hands up her thighs she looked up again, making sure she was good to continue. Angela shifted her weight to pulled her trousers down. Fareeha smiled, resuming her slow kisses, this time starting on her inner thigh and working her way up.

"Oh..." Angela breathed as Fareeha ran her tongue across her folds. Though she worked slowly, years of solitude weighed down on the witch, and she moaned loudly.

* * *

That night, they spent it all together. Though the hut grew colder in the late hours, they didn't feel it in each other's arms.

Fareeha closed her eyes as Angela stroked her hair. Over time, as much as her village's curse will wane, perhaps so will Angela's. Until then, she looked forward to more nights like this.

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure what this is meant to be, but I sort of just wanted an excuse to write a fic with an apothecary in it :D 
> 
> Don't come at me for that weak smut scene, I have no idea how people write that stuff haha :DDD 
> 
> (also yes, they lived happily ever after, the curse lifted, somehow :D no sad endings on my watch!)


End file.
